Monsoon disaster: Massive chunk of road near Delhi's busy IIT flyover caves in due to heavy rains

Pic courtesy: Twitter/Delhi Traffic Police

New Delhi: A massive chunk of road near the Capital's busy IIT flyover caved in due to heavy rains, causing snarls in the area on Saturday (July 31).  No one was injured. This is the second such incident in a week for Delhi that has been seeing heavy to moderate rainfall for the past few days. Last week, a portion of road near Dwarka's Sector 18 caved in taking along with it a traffic police constable's car. Cranes were called in to pull the car out of the pit and the constable, who escaped with minor injuries.

The pictures of the sinkhole stirred an intense debate on Twitter. The yearly apathy also saw AAP and opposition BJP members trading charges in the Delhi Assembly's Monsoon Session, with PWD Minister Satyendar Jain calling the city's municipal corporations as the "most corrupt" organisations in the world. BJP blamed the Public Works Department(Department) of not undertaking cleaning of drains before the onset of the monsoon.

The Delhi Traffic Police, meanwhile,  has asked commuters who use this busy stretch to take the alternate route.

"Traffic going from Adhchini to IIT has been diverted from Adhchini to Katwaria Sarai after a portion of a road near IIT red light (traffic signal) caved in," the Traffic Police said on Twitter. The city received an average of 43.6 mm rain till 8.30 am on Saturday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

ट्रैफिक अलर्ट
IIT रेड लाइट के पास रोड धंसने से अधचीनी से IIT जाने वाले ट्रैफिक को अधचीनी से कटवारिया सराय की तरफ ट्रैफिक डायवर्सन कर दिया गया हैl कृपया इस मार्ग के प्रयोग से बचेl pic.twitter.com/xcyhBoN3UC — Delhi Traffic Police (@dtptraffic) July 31, 2021

Moderate rains are expected later in the day, the weatherman said. The IMD on Friday had issued an orange alert, predicting moderate rain on Saturday and warning of possible waterlogging in low-lying areas of the national capital and major traffic disruptions.

The department has issued a yellow alert for Sunday (August 1), and orange alert also for Monday (August 2).

(With Agency inputs)